OFCCP Director Discusses Developments

OFCCP Director Discusses Developments With Contractors' EEO Representatives
Thursday, August 23, 2007

NEW YORK--A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on when pay discrimination claims must be filed under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act does not "directly affect" the obligations of federal contractors to provide data on employee compensation to the Labor Department, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Director Charles James said Aug. 22.
Speaking at the 25th annual conference of the Industry Liaison Group in New York, James said the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear, in which the court held that a female supervisor had waited too long to file a Title VII charge of alleged sex discrimination in pay (103 DLR AA-1, 5/30/07 ), does not change OFCCP procedures that require federal contractors to demonstrate compliance with Executive Order 11246, which prohibits sex discrimination and requires affirmative action.
James, the deputy assistant secretary of labor for federal contract compliance programs since 2001, told more than 600 equal employment opportunity specialists attending the conference that nothing in the Ledbetter decision would permit contractors to refuse to provide compensation data to DOL's OFCCP. The ILG conference brings together industry EEO specialists responsible for compliance with EO 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the veterans' statutes enforced by OFCCP and government personnel from that agency and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In the wake of Ledbetter, OFCCP will continue to use its existing standards for determining whether documented differences in pay among similarly situated employee groups amount to unlawful discrimination, James said. He explained that the Supreme Court case involved a "discrete employment action" and was "all about timing" under the applicable statute of limitations under Title VII rather than the "content" of a pay discrimination claim. He pointed out that in reviewing federal contractors' employment policies, OFCCP looks at compensation systems as a whole, and Ledbetter provides no excuse for contractors not to cooperate with agency audits.
James also noted that the House already has passed legislation that would overrule the court's decision in Ledbetter and the bill is now pending before the Senate (147 DLR AA-1, 8/1/07 ). The administration has indicated that if the Senate passes the bill, President Bush would veto the legislation, he said. "All I can say is stay tuned," James said.

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